My research interests are in microbial activities in natural environments such as soil. Most of what we know about bacteria has been discovered using laboratory cultures of single species. Unlike traditional laboratory conditions, in complex environments such as soil bacteria need to respond to fluctuating environmental parameters, and must interact with a large number of other microbial species. We have found that in the presence of multiple bacterial species and while dwelling in soil, bacteria behave in ways which have never been observed in laboratory culture experiments.

Using the model bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens, we are interested in addressing two aspects of life in natural environments. First, we are focused on understanding mechanisms that enable persistence and competitive fitness, and adaptation to environmental fluctuations which occur during growth in soil. Second, my laboratory used co-culture of multiple bacterial species to explore communication among soil bacteria resulting in multiple responses including the production of an antimicrobial compound.

Long term goals include developing an understanding of the dynamics of microbial communities in natural environments, using microbial systems as sensors of environmental contamination, and improving the use of bacteria in biological control of plant pathogens and in the bioremediation of oil spills.

In our research we use massively parallel DNA sequencing technology alongside established genetic, molecular biology, and microbiological tools.